Thieves walk in, steal cars
Fears door code copied with app to open garage
BRAZEN teenagers who stole two cars from a Gold Coast address allegedly used an app to copy the code transmitted by the electronic garage door to gain access to the property.
Melissa Morey, of Pacific Pines, said her husband woke for work at 5am one morning two weeks ago to discover both of their cars – a Hyundai i30 and a Jeep Cherokee – had been stolen from their locked garage.
“They walked past us as we were sleeping and through the lounge and into the kitchen where they found the keys,” she said.
“Our first thought was our two children, eight and 10, and checking that they were OK.
“But the aftermath of this has been so hard on them, they slept together for the first few nights afterwards
and wouldn’t go to the bathroom alone.
“We’ve been told the thieves were teenagers joy riding, so they’ll probably get no punishment whatsoever or community service and they’ll just keep on doing it.”
Three juvenile girls have been charged with the break
in. Mrs Morey was told the thieves were from Logan and had travelled south on the train to jump cars.
“They trashed, crashed and graffitied my husband’s car so bad that it’s a write-off,” she said.
“My wallet was also in the car, because I thought every
thing was safe because the house and garage was locked, so they’ve had a field day with our cards.
“They spent up large at McDonald’s, dumped some of my stuff at Griffith Uni and even used money my daughter had saved in her Spriggy account.
“We’ve changed all the locks to the house, but you can’t stop someone from copying the coding, so police have suggested we turn off the power to the electric motor of our garage door.”
Mrs Morey said police told her that thieves used an app on their phone to copy the code transmitted to the motor of the garage door while the homeowner was either backing in or out of their property. Often they followed a person home and copied the code as they were entering their garage.
“We’re now without two cars and have three days to get one before we have to take our hire car back,” she said.
“The cops said it’s some type of app which is really scary because if it’s a broken window you can fix that, but the fact is you can’t stop them from copying the coding of your garage remote.
“I had no idea this was a way they could get in, but since it’s happened I’ve found out there’s quite a few people being done in the same way. What sort of person creates an app like this?
“You just don’t expect a break-in to be so quiet. Usually, there’d be some sort of bang or crash.”
A Queensland Police spokesman said two girls, aged 16 and 17, were both charged with unlawful use of motor vehicle.
A 15-year-old girl also was charged with unlawful use of motor vehicle and possessing dangerous drugs.